Trolley-catcher.



PATENTED JUNE 25, 1907.

R. SHIELDS.

TROLLEY GATGHER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.14, 1906.

' 3SHEETS-SHEBT 1.

, witness? R. SHIELDS. TROLLEY GATCHER.

APPLIOATiON FILED M114. 1906,

3 HHBETS-BHEET 2.

- PATENTBD JUNE 25, ,1907- No. 858,355. PATENTED JUNE 25, 1907.

R. SHIELDS.

TROLLEY GATGHER. APPLIOATIOH FILED MAR. 14. 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

2/ v k z -n lkx a WSW UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT sHI LDS, OF SO UTH BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AssIcNoR TO FRANK RIDLON COMPANY, OF'BOSTON, MA SACHUSETTS, A GORPQRA- TION OF MiisSAcHUsET'rs.

l TROLLEY-CATCHER. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

; PatentedJune25, 1907.

Application filed March 14,1906. serial No. 305,986.

' To all whom it'may concern:

' vented a new and useful Trolley-Catcher, of

which the following is a specification.-

My invention relates to improvements in controlling devices fortrolley-pole cords, in which a spool or reel is mounted in a suitable case with means'to lock such reel to said case; and release it therefrom under certain varying conditions and withother means foriso connecting 'a mainspring with said reel and its supporting stud that said mainspring is af 4 fected only when the reel is rotated in one direction, that is, in the direction for paying out the rope or cord wound thereon, certain subsidiary and auxiliary parts and members being provided, all as hereinafter set forth.

The object of my invention is to provide a trolley catcher which, while performing all of the offices and ,me eti'ng all of the requirements of whichsuch a-device is capable, is

simple, convenient, and unusually strong and durable.

In order to successfully withstand the repeated shocks incident to the locking of the, rapidly revolving reel every time the cord'is drawn swiftly upward under the influence of the trolley-pole spring when the trolleywheel leaves the over-head 'wire, it is necessary to furnish the device with'exceedingly substantial locking mechanism, and such provision constitutes an'important feature of this invention. -In -the present' construction the line of resistance is straight instead of curved 'and the locking mechanism consequently more powerful. Provision is also made for Whatever back-lash of the reel, upon the rebound of the 'trol'ley 'pole, occurswithout unlocking the parts, 7

Other objects will present themselves. in the following description.

I attain these objects by the means illustrated in' the accompanying drawings, in

which a Figure 1. is a front view of the trolley catcher without the. front section of the case,

wherein portions of the reel and of the face plate are broken away and one of the locking v pawls on said reel is shown in engagement another modified the case; Fig.- 2, a rear view of the reel, the pawls being presented in their non-active-positions in full lines and in their active positionsby dotted lines, the relative position of with the dog orjstop in the back section of the stop isalso here shown byfdotted lines;

Fig. 3, an inside view of the front-section of the case; Fig; 4, a front, end view of.,the'an-' chorage sleeve for the mainspring Fig. 5, a

.vertical sectionthrough the 'device as a whole taken from front to 'backand looking toward the left of Fi 1; Fig. 9', a fragment of the case with a part of the projection which forms the passage for the trolley cord showing a length of chain caught in the,

front end view of the axial stud Fi 6, a

notch in said projection, and, Fig. 10,still I form of axial stud and associated members. g

Similar figures refer to similarthroughout the several views.

parts It is to be understood that, as is usual in l devices of this kind, the mainspring. acts upon the r'eelzto Wind up the slack in the ltrolley cord and yields to allow said cord to unwindtl1at is to say, Whenthe cord is carried upward the mainspring is itself wound up. 7 As before intimated provision is made to release the mainspring after it has expended its force, so as to a oid straining and possibly breaking the same. derstood, furthermore, that the case is to be suitable means to the dasher of a car, but since such fastening means forms no part of this application the same is omitted except fastened in any suitable manner and by any Itis to be unfor a flange on the back of the case which maybe utilized, for such a purpose.

Iwill now proceed to describe in detail a preferred construction of. my device. The case herein provided consists of a back section 1 and a front section 2, the latter having a flange 3 at its inner rim-to la a trolley cord the case provided with a'projection 4 having a pass "ge therethroughs. In

over the inner rim on the former; For the passage of" one side of the projection 4 is a note-h5- adapted to receive and hold the end of a short length ofchain, "Whichmay be used as a relationship with the section 1 and to prevent theseparts from turning upon each.

. this hub with an enlarged part or s oulder in securing the two-sections together.

.1 into the path of said ratchet-teeth, a spring ports said reel, and a plate 19, which serves spring 18, is mounted on the stud between andto close the front of the chamber 16, the

'19, 17 and 20 toget er with the back side of Itate'd in one direction, but offers little resistconnecting medium between the reel-and! cord, when said reel is under tension,, for reasons which will appear hereinafter. The bottom of the case is out outto form a handhole 6, which permits of the escape of any water that may collect in thecase and allows the operator to introduce his fingers into the case for the pur ose of manipulating the reel and fastening t e cord thereto. In order to assist in bringing the section 2 into proper other I make use of'a lug 7 on the rear section adapted to enter an indentation 8 in the flange 3 on the front section. A flange 9 on the back side of section 1 may be employed for attaching the device to the car dasher, as already noted. Within the flange 9 is an internally screw-threaded hub 10 for an axial stud 11 which is screwedtightly into lace in bearing against the inside face of the back of the section 1. When the front section 2, i which partakes of the nature of a cover, is 'in position the front, screw-threaded terminal of the stud 11 extends through a hole 12 in said section to receive a nut 13 which assists Within the case is a reel 14 having a hub 15 loosely mounted on the enlarged portion of the stud 11. The reel 14 has a chamber 16 therein. An anchorage sleeve '17, for a mainspring 18, is loosely mounted on the diminished portion of the stud forward of that portion of said stud Which directly supas a rear support or backing for the maine front end of the hub 15 and the rear end of said sleeve. A face plate 20 is screwed onto the front, threaded terminal of the stud 11 to assist in retaining the sleeve 17 in place mainspring being confined laterally between this plate and the late 19. The members the section l'hold the reel 14 against movement longitudinally of the stud 1 1. The inner end of the mainspring 18, which has first been bent into suitable shape, is attached to the sleeve 17 by being inserted in a longitudinal slot 21 provided in said sleeve for. that purpose, as shown at 22, while the outer end of said mainspring is fastened to a pin 23 seated in a projection 24 in the chamber 16. On the rear end of the sleeve 17 are ratchetteeth 25 arranged to engage a pin 26 sosituated in the stud 11 that its front end projects 27 behind said pin constantly tending to force it outward. As will be readily seen the pin 26 prevents the sleeve 17 from being roance when said sleeve is rotated in theoppo- When the reel 14 is revolved in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, the mainspring 18 will be wound up, because the sleeve 17-, to which the inner end of said mainspring is attached, is prevented from rotating by the pin 26 and the engaging ratchet-tooth 25;

the opposite direction, after the mainspring runs down it will not be distorted or broken by the continued rotation of the reel, owing. to the fact that the ratchet-teeth 25 now slip by said pin, thespring 27 yielding for this purpose.

parted to the reel by the unwinding of the mainspring, but helps to overcome ther same. Moreover, the ratchet mechanism enables that indicated b y'the aforesaid arrow.

, A perforated lug '28, Fig. 8, is provided at some suitable point on the reel, to which and from which either a short length of chain 29 or a cord 30 may be easily and quickly at= tached and detached. When the chain 29 is employed the cord 30 is fastened thereto. The object of using a chain is to afford convenient means for holding the reel against rotation, when the mainspring is woundup, at such times as it is desired to remove the dc vice from one car to another and consequently to change trolley cords; this is accom plished by drawing the chain out through the projection 4 and catching its outer end in the notch 5, as shown in Fig. 9. While the chain is in this position the change in cords can be. made, after which said chain is released and permitted to be wound onto the,

spring performing this work.

The cord 30, whether attached directly to the reel or connected with the chain 29, is originally wound on the'ree'l 14 in either of two ways: first,'by taking turns of said cord about said reel while the cover'section'2 is off, the mainspring remaining inactive and being undisturbed; and, second, by reaching through the hand-hole 6 and rotating the reel in the contrary direction to that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, the ratchetteeth 25 meanwhile clicking past the in 25. Now any upward ull on'the cord wil cause the mainspring to be wound up, more or less,

said 'mainspring will inturn cause the slack to be again Wound on the reel. Thus is the cord kept taut under all ordinary circumstances;

The reel 14 is equipped on the back with a plurality of abutmcnts 31 and pawls 32, there being three of each in the present instance, although this number may vary. The'abutments 31 are fixed immovably to a but when said reel revolves or is revolvedin This arrangement not only takes care of any momentum that might be imthe surplus cord to be wound on the reel by rotating the reel in the opposite direction to too reel with partof the attached cord, the mainaccording y, and when the. cordis slackened the reel, but the pawls 32 are ivoted-thereto,

- the inner end of eachot t e latter being 1 0' mounted on a pivot-33 extending. rearward from said reeL- Each pawl32 is so formed andlocated that its movement in one direction is limited by, the adjacent *end of one' abutme1 1t '31 and in the other direction bythe adjacent end of ano therabutment in other words; each pawl can-oscillatebetween and contact withtwo adj acent abutnientss The pawls are norgmally drawn inward and retained with their outer ends 01'' heads in contact with'what "maybe termed the feet of -theabutments by -means of light-springs 34: Each s ring 34 'hlas'one-end fastened-to the reel and t e other to a pawl. Within the sectionl' behind thet reel,14,'a little remote'from' the pathpf .travel of the-abutments, isa dog or stop 35, and when the pawls are in the position just noted they*a1so clear said stop as the reel re- "volvegprpvided such revolution be'regular. and even and lllsl lficlent to overcome l by centrifugal force the powerof the spring 34,

;but under a sudden acceleration ofs peed 'impartedto therr'eel -inthe direction of the argpole issuddenly jerked upward, the power of row,-aswhen the trolley-wheel slips from the wire and the, cord attached to the trolleysaid springs is overcome and the pawls swing outward until their heads contact'with the heads instead of the feet of theabutments, each-pawl now bearing 7 behind, in the line of'ro tatio'n; that against "which'it had previouslyrested. Thestop is :now in the path of thepawlsl (See the pa-rts 32 and 35 in full lines in Fig; '11 and in 35" dotted lines lnFig. 2.) Immediately one of furt er-movement of thereel, thus checking the cord and trolleyole. The 'force ofthe- 1 ,blowwhen the shock etween thec'on-tacti'ng members 32 and .315 occurs is dis ibuted throughout these members 'and the abutmnt between which and thestop the acting rac'tic ly straight asfwillbe seen upon reerring to Fig. 2, hence the strength and durapawl is grasped; and the line of resistance is,

bility of this mechanism.

rily slight, because the fcrcecf the rebound .is quickly expended, and owing to the peculiar arrangement of the locking members such pawl does not clearthe stop'35 before said cord is again drawn up by the trolleypole, which action rotates thereel in the opposite. direction or against the mainspring until the'three lockin members are'once more in contact, when urthcr motion ceases. From the foregoing itwitl be seen that the 3; liability of prematurely unlocking the reel time that the reeliwas all of the pawls 32 to normal position by against the abutment awls 32 encounters the dog 35 and stops spool and for this pur ose' I prefer to fill the I duits leading from said chamber tothe'bear- .and releasingthe trolley pole is removed.

-When the reel is-released, upon the drawin downcf the cord to replace the'tl'olley-whee on the wire byf the operator, Ithe mainspring nnwinds and'rotates the ree in the proper direction tocause'the lockingineinbers to be:-

come'disengaged, the device being now unlocked and ready'for a repetition of t j e ac-' tion hereinbefore described. It will haunt- (lei-stood that the sprin s";34 have, since the rstlocked, returned 1 drawir g thel'n sto '35. M

eferring to Fig-(7 it willibenoticed that'av fixed pin 26 is employed, in place of the spring-actuated .pin 26', and'that the sleeve inward so that they clear the 17 here has endwise movement, a spring' 2'7 beingintrodu'ced between the face plate 20 and the adjacent end ofthe. sleevel'to force the latter into engagement with said pin 26. The in 26 pro'ects forward from a fiange 36 ont e'enlarged portion of the-stud 1 1. The

operation 'of this-mechanisnris the sameas.

that of the corres onding mechanism best shown in Fig. San already fully-described, excepting that the sleeve is *forced'forward against the resiliency of the sprin 27* every time .one of the ratchet teeth 25 ri es over the in26, while in the other instance the V in is forced backward -out of the way 9 the- ,ratchet-teth.

[In the Fig. 10jconstructiona stud 11* 'made' in two par-tsscr wed together is used, with a washer 36 irt imovably secured be-. tween the'aforesaid parts of the stud, The Washer 36* takes the place of the flange 36 in the Fig-'7 construction, and hke said flange is provided witha pin 26 Except in the'particulars mentioned the tvjto modified constructions are practically the same;

Under some circumstances in onie climates I find it desirable to provide\ for permanent lubrication of the bearingsgof the opening between the p ate .19 and the back of the. spool. with tower-other like material and saturate the same thorou hly with a suitable lubricant. -I' also "proviri suitable oil con-.

ing parts one such conduit appearing at 37 in Fig. 8. The e1 will flow from the chamber through the conduits to the bearings and keep the same constantlyoiled until the surplus oil in the chamber has become exhausted. With this construction the device may be used very many monthswithout replenishing the oil. l i Having therefore described my invention, what 'I-claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

' 1/ In a trolley catcher, the combination 0? I a suitable su fixed inward y projecting stop,

a rotating reel mounted in said case,

porting case having therein a a spring to rotate 3 the reel in one direction, a pawl pivotally mounted .on the'face of the reel and arranged when outwardly disposed to engage said fixed stop on the case, an abutment on said reel located in the path of the head of the pawl to limit the extent of the outward movement of the pawl and take the thrust or blow causedby the impact of the pawl against the fixed stop on the case, and means to normally hold the pawl out of the path of the fixed stop.

In a trolleycateher, the combination of a suitable case, a fixed stopprojecting in-' tions and the abutments receive the blows or impacts causedyby the engagement of the pawls with the fixed stop on the case, and means to normally hold the pawls out of the path of the fixed stop.

3. The combmatlon, in a trolley catcher, of a case having an internal fixed stop, an axial stud mounted in the case, a reel mounted to.

revolve onsaidstud,inwardlyspring-actuated pawls mounted on said reel, and abutments also mounted on the reel against which abutments, the pawls bear when outwardly (lisposed, said stop b'ein locatedout of the path of said pawls when die reel revolves excepting when said. pawls are thrown outward by centrifugal force at which time one of the pawls is caught between said stop and one of said abutments, substantially as shown. a

4.. In a trolley catcher, the combination of a suitable case, a reel mounted to revolve therein, a fixed stop on the case, a pawl mounted on the faceof the reel said pawl being normally held out of the path of said fixed stop when the reel revolves, and adapted to be moved into the path of the fixed stop by centrifugal force when the reel revolves with suflicient rapidity to overcome the force holding the pawl normally out of such path, an

abutment mounted on said reel adj acent the head of the pawl and -in recurring ri ht line relation with the fixed sto whereby the force of the blow caused by t e sudden stop page of the revolution of the reel by the pawl from said stud into engagement with saidratchet-teeth, and a mainspring having one end connected with said wheel and the other end attached to said sleeve.

' 6. The combination, in a trolley catcher,

of a case, an axial stud therein, a hollowrcvoluble reel mounted on such stud, a revoluble anchorage sleeve also mounted on the stud and held against endwise movement thereon, ratchet-teeth on the inner end of such sleeve, a spring-pressed pin projecting from said stud "into engagement with said ratchet-teeth to limit the revolution of said sleeve in one direction, a mainspring in the reel chamber having one end connected with said reel and the other end attached to the sleeve, and plates on the stud between which said mainspring is located 7. The combination, in a trolley catcher,

of a case, an axial stud therein, a revoluble reel mounted on such stud, a revoluble sleeve also mounted on the stud, ratchetteeth on such sleeve, means to prevent end- Wise movement of the sleeve, a spring-pressed pin in said stud, extending into the path of said ratchet-teethto limit the revolution of said sleeve in one direction, and a mainspring having one and connected with the reel and the other end attached to the sleeve.

8. A trolley catcher, comprising an outer case, a centrally recessed reel mounted to revolve in the case, a plate separating said rccess into two non-communicating compartments, a spring in one of said compartments, the other compartment forming an oil reser voir, and a conduit leading from the oil reservoir tothe reel bearing, substantially as shown.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT SHIELDS.

- Witnesses:

ALICE L. GRIFFIN, HENRY F. KELLOGG. 

